The Hobbit has set a box office record with the biggest December opening ever in the US, beating the three previous Lord Of The Rings films with a haul of 84.8 million dollars (£52.4 million).

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Peter Jackson's Middle Earth epic surpassed Will Smith's I Am Legend, which opened with 77.2 million dollars (£47.7 million) in 2007, and Avatar, which opened with 77 million dollars (£47.6 million).

Internationally, The Hobbit also added 138.2 million dollars (£85.4 million) for an impressive debut well north of 200 million dollars.

Despite weak reviews, The Warner Bros adaptation of JRR Tolkien's first novel in the fantasy series was an even bigger draw than the last Lord Of The Rings movie, The Return Of The King. That film opened with 72.6 million dollars (£44.9 million).

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first of another planned trilogy, with two more films to be squeezed out of Tolkien's book.

While the Rings movies drew many accolades - The Return Of The King won best picture from the Academy Awards - the path for The Hobbit has been rockier. It received no Golden Globes nominations on Thursday, though all three Rings films were nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for best picture.

Particularly criticised has been the film's 48 frames per second - double the usual rate - which is a hyper-detailed look that some have found jarring. Most moviegoers did not see The Hobbit in that version, though, as the new technology was rolled out in only 461 of the 4,045 cinemas playing the film.

Regardless of any misgivings, the film looks to have been a hit with audiences.

The strong opening culminated a long journey for The Hobbit, which was initially delayed when a lawsuit dragged on between Jackson and Rings producer New Line Cinema over merchandising revenue. The production also went through the bankruptcy of distribution partner MGM and a labour dispute in New Zealand, where the film was shot.

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